Testing
of Your Faith - Develops Perseverance
By Evangelist Ron Davis
Now, the Holy Scriptures exhorts us that “even
if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled”=
(1 Peter 3:14 NKJV). Yes, these days before us are somewhat exci=
ting
at times and then these are times where the words of our Lord and Savior Ch=
rist
Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane must be recalled by His servants and His =
followers.
As it is written, “Could you men not keep watch with=
Me
for one hour?’ He asked Peter. Watch and pray so that you will not fa=
ll
into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak”=
(Matt. 26:40-41 NIV).
Yes, today, if indeed you have the Spirit of Christ
living in you the Grace of our Holy Father in heaven then let us “…
rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in
our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint =
us,
because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who=
m He
has given us” (Romans 5:2-5 NIV).
Therefore, today I am fully persuaded “that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us” Romans 8:18 (NKJV).
For now my brothers and sisters in the Faith of the
Christ Jesus our Lord and Master, I proclaim the whole counsel of God to yo=
u as
He allows me to do. I exhort you to continue in the faith given to you by o=
ur Holy
and Righteous Father in heaven, for “we must through many tribulatio=
ns
enter the kingdom of God” Amen. Praise God (Acts 14:22 NKJV). “In
fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted while evil men =
and
imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2
Tim. 3:12 NIV).
Understanding
Why Job Suffered for His Faith
When we go to the book of Job one of the spiritual
truths, we learn is found in Job 1=
:6-7
and 2:1-2. In these verses, we=
see
the Angels of God going to present themselves before God and it says Satan,=
the
evil one came also to present himself to God. These Angels of God presentin=
g themselves
to God and Satan, the accuser of the followers of Christ Jesus going before=
God
also is something that happens even today as we journey on this evil and
adulterous planet as strangers struggling in our sufferings and trials.
Notice, what Satan says when God asks him, “Where
have you come from?” Satan replied, “From roaming through=
the
earth and going back and forth in it” (Job 1:7 and 2:2 NIV). =
These
words are similar to what the Holy Spirit warns us about the evil one in 1 Peter 5:8 where it’s said=
, “Be
sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roa=
ring
lion, seeking whom he may devour” (NKJV). Then God the Father knowing all things and the reason why =
the
evil one was before Him, God asks the evil one, “Have you considered =
My servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he =
is
blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8 NIV). The accuser of the
brethren, the evil one sought to devour this man of God, called Job which t=
he
Holy Spirit have written his story as our example today.
In the book of Job, the evil one called the devil o=
ur
adversary and accuser of us goes before God to ask if he can devour Job and
make him suffer for his faith in God. The evil one wanted to tempt Job by
causing him to suffer for his faith believing that since God had put a hedge
around Job’s life that once God removed this hedge from Job he would =
curse
God to His face. Yes, God will place a hedge around us as followers of His =
Son,
Christ Jesus but we must remember that as very followers of Christ Jesus we=
are
called to suffer; this hedge protects us from the evil one as we have the
Spirit of God our hope (2 Tim. 3:1=
2).
This applies to all of us with the Spirit of God living in us because this =
is what
makes us righteous and blameless before God. For without the Spirit of Chri=
st
we are not His, as it is written, =
“if anyone does not have the Spi=
rit of
Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:9 NKJV).
Another spiritual truth we should take from the boo=
k of
Job is that the evil one cannot do anything to the followers of Christ with=
out
first answering to God. Our Holy and Righteous Father in heaven gave permis=
sion
to the evil one, our accuser saying of Job to the evil one “everything he has is=
in
your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger” (Job 1:12
NIV). Here, in Job’s first test of his faith God did not allow the
evil one to touch Job’s body. He only allowed the evil one to touch t=
he
children of Job and his material things. So, the evil one went out and in o=
ne
day killed all of Job’s children, killed all his servants (workers) e=
xcept
the messengers who brought the news of the events to Job; and the evil one =
took
away Job’s livestock and animals all on that same one day leaving only
Job’s wife alive (Job 1:13-1=
9).
Now, it is said that throughout all these disastrous
events caused by the evil one, Job’s first test of his faith “Job
did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:22 NIV). =
Next,
the evil one saw that Job would not curse God but Job instead torn his clot=
hes,
shaved his head and fell to the ground in prayer and fasting and worshipping
God (Job 1:20 NIV). Saying, “Naked
I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave =
and
the Lord taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:=
21
NIV). This is our example when various trials and sufferings fall upon =
us
as followers of Christ. As it is written, “Brothers, as an example of pati=
ence
in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the
Lord” (James 5:10 NI=
V).
After seeing that Job would not curse God, the evil=
one
went back before God also to present himself to God and to accuse Job. Noti=
ce,
what God said concerning Job’s character and integrity in Job 2:3, “…he still maintains his integrity, though you incited =
Me against him to ruin him without any reason” <=
/i>(NIV).
The evil one responded sa=
ying, “Skin
for skin!” “A man will give all he has for his own life. But st=
retch
out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you =
to
your face” (Job 2:4-5 NIV). In Job’s s=
econd
test of his faith, God allowed the evil one to strike Job’s body but =
the
evil one could not kill Job (Job 2=
:6).
Again, we see the evil one limited by God who has all authority over all th=
ings
seen and unseen. So, the evil one went out and struck Job with painful sores
from his feet to the top of his head (Job
2:7-8).
Then Job’s wife came to him while he was cove=
red
with painful sores all his body; and said, “Are you still holding on to your
integrity? Curse God and die!” But, Job replied to his wife, =
“You
are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept the good from God, and not
the trouble?” (Job 2:9-10). As our example as followers of Ch=
rist
Jesus we must pray, that we are willing to accept both the good and trouble
from God. Here, we also see why the evil one, the accuser of us before God =
did
not kill Job’s wife, he used her for Job’s third test of his fa=
ith.
Yet, Job throughout the testing of his faith did not curse God. As our exam=
ple,
Job did not allow his wife to cause him to curse God, and we as followers of
Christ must remain faithful to God even when those close to us try to tempt=
us
to move away from God ways.
Even Job’s friends were used by the evil one =
to
tempt Job to curse God, something we as followers of Christ Jesus must rema=
in
alert to and in prayer daily to guard against. See Job 4:12, where Eliphaz the Temanite says, “a wo=
rd was
secretly brought to me…” After reading the other verses=
Job 4:12-16, we see who this word=
came
from and that is the evil one. This is why I preach that you must test every
thought that come into your mind even in your dreams (1 John 4:1-6). Now, these friends of Job were good friends they
traveled from afar to see and comfort him during his very great grief, sitt=
ing
with him for seven days and seven nights without saying a word, remaining
silence because Job was in great sufferings. But, when they did speak, we s=
ee they
were misguided by this world’s teachings that if you are suffering wi=
th
trials then you must have done something wrong, which is not always true (Job 4:7).
Job remained faithful to God but he let his friends
influence him with their beliefs that he must have done something wrong to =
be
suffering (Job 5:17 and 6:24).=
Job
also wished and asked God to end his life because the trials were of such g=
reat
grief even to the point of death, wishing he had never been born (Job 2:11 and 6:8-9). And Job que=
stioned
God as to why he must suffer when he have done the things of God. Job point=
ed
to his prior acts such as “I delivered the poor who cried =
out,
and the fatherless and he who had no helper”; “I
caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy” (Job 29:12-13 NKJ=
V).
Job was even making foolish statements before His Maker saying, “my
righteousness still stands”; “I will complain in the bitterne=
ss of
my soul”; “I am blameless…” and
“God
has wronged me” (Job 6:29, 7:11, 9:11 and 19:6 NKJV).
Now, I exhort you not to become like Job, “righteous
in his own eyes” but to humble yourself and know that God giv=
es
Grace to whom He pleases and His Righteousness to those who humble themselv=
es
before Him (Job 32:1). Know th=
is
that your friends may become like Job’s friends saying things about G=
od
that is not right; and after God finished correcting Job He admonished his =
friends
for their behavior and instructed them to offer burnt offerings for their s=
ins and
His “servant Job shall pray
for” them (Job 42:7-8).
In the end, Job remains faithful to God the Holy Fa=
ther
and repents for his rash talk. God says of Job to his friends, “I
will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you =
have
not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job
has” (Job 42:8 NKJV). And after Job prayed for his friends, G=
od
restored his losses, indeed twice as much as Job had before (Job 42:10).
1
Peter 3:18 (NKJV)… “For
Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might
bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the
Spirit…”
Therefore, let us set our minds to resist the evil =
one
called the devil as the Holy Spirit says, “Resist him, standing firm in the
faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergo=
ing
the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:9 NIV). Remembering, =
the
trials and sufferings of this man of God, Job who we know and consider to be
blessed because he persevered through his sufferings. As the Spirit says, “You
have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally
brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy” (James
5:10-11 NIV). Amen. Praise God.
Bible
Study:
Matthew
24,
the book of Esther and the book of Job
Until next time, I pray that my God and Holy Father=
in
heaven will bless you and your household in understanding His Holy Word. An=
d if
you are lacking in spiritual matter ask God and He will provide, for this I=
am
sure. Amen. Praise God.
In Christ Love,
Ron Davis, minister of God